San Polo:
Antica Trattoria Poste Vecie

Directions: Even with our "Chow! Venice" directions, it was hard to find. It's behind the fish market.

This is the oldest restaurant in Venice housed in an old post office. The surroundings are beautiful. You are served a complimentary Prosecco when you sit down.

Tom had a pasta of cuttlefish and clams, this gave the pasta a sweet flavor - very enjoyable. He then had grilled Monkfish that was light and flavorful. I had a grilled monkfish with a sauce. I much preferred Tom's simply grilled.

For dessert we had something called a "Sgroppino," which is lemon Sorbet, Vodka and Prosecco. An odd combination, but it was so delicous.

Reviewed by: sharonzuk from NJ, review #2169

When: 2006

This restaurant calls itself "the oldest restaurant in Venice." We found it to be just a tired, old restaurant serving tired, old food.

Some of the reviews we'd read gave Poste Vecie good reviews and made special mention of its spaghetti with clams. So two of us went for dinner.

Things started off okay with two complimentary glasses of prosecco. Unfortunately, the quality slipped. Our appetizer of prosciutto with melon was good, but the spaghetti with clams was not. The pasta was crunchy (not al dente) and the clams were less than fresh (very surprising considering the restaurant is in the Rialto fish market).

Service was as mediocre as the food. The excellent espresso couldn't wash away the feeling that we should have gone elsewhere. Add in a half bottle of okay red wine and some mineral water and the bill came to €77 for two.

Reviewed by: AnnieNC from NC, review #980

When: 2004

This was a "splurge" dinner on my last trip to Venice and I loved it....

When I'm in Venice, I usually eat pizza or cichetti for dinner, but one rainy night when I was there in May 2004, I had the urge to spend some money and eat at a sit-down restaurant. I knew that this is supposed to be the oldest restaurant in Venice (and "Chow! Venice" gave it a good review), plus I was dying to try moeche (soft-shell crabs) and I had heard that Poste Vecie had them.

It was a wonderful dinner. Started with a complimentary glass of Prosecco and then switched to the house white wine, which was great (but I forgot to write down what it was!)

The moeche were one of the best things I have ever eaten. They are completely different than soft-shell crabs in the USA - they are tiny (about 2 bites each) and more tender and MUCH more flavorful. I loved them - they gave me a huge plate, and I ate every one. They were very lightly battered and came with fried zucchini strips that were also delicious - both were perfect and not greasy at all.

I also ordered a contorni of mixed vegetables that was great - lots of spring vegetables, perfectly cooked. For dessert, I had a sgroppino which was also wonderful.

The bill was about €45 - expensive but worth it. I was traveling solo this trip and felt completely comfortable having dinner at Poste Vecie by myself; the staff were very nice and the "vibes" are great in this place. I highly recommend it and look forward to eating there again.

Reviewed by: Boleskine from NJ, review #572

When: 2003

The oldest restaurant in Venice, Poste Vecie has outstanding fish and meat dishes, a friendly staff, two nonsmoking rooms with fire places and a covered garden room.

Directions: Take the vaporetto to any of the Rialto stations - they are all quite close together but different lines stop at different ones. Walk across the Rialto Bridge. If you do not want to walk across the Rialto, you can get off at San Silvestro on the San Polo side of the canal, and walk from there to the Rialto area. Continue straight; you may walk in the open or under the arcade. When you reach Campo Beccarie, bear to you right. You will actually walk into the area where the stalls for the fish market are - the produce markets are just before and it is worth a daytime trip here to see them all. You will be on what is sort of a pier-water on two sides-go to your left-there is a small side canal with a little wooden humped bridge over it. The bridge goes right to the front door of Poste Vecie.

Poste Vecie is housed in what was once a post office and its walls are decorated with old letters and bills. Two rooms have fire places and a third on the other side of the entrance, bar and restrooms is a covered garden room. English menus are available. The spaghetti con vongole verace is the best in Venice and the Pasta e Fagioli and saute of mussels and clams are equally outstanding. Calf's liver venexiana, and the monk fish are among the best in Venice, but all the fish and meat dishes here are tops. Lots of rich desserts are available, but the sgroppino is fantastic and is one of my two favorties in Venice. Very old and "very Venetian."

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.